Mop-head



(No Model.) Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. M. HOLMES..

. MOP HEAD. No. 420,798. Patented Feb. 4 1890.

% W I flttorneyk,

N. PETERS. mwln-Liflwgmphur, Washingtcn. o. c

WITNESSES 2 Sheets' sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. M. HOLMES.

MOP HEAD WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT QEETQE,

JOHN FL HOLMES, OF GLENS FALLS, NEIV YORK.

MOP HEAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 420,798, dated February4, 1890.

Application filed April 29, 1889.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Glens Falls, in the county of Varren and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mop-Heads; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in mop -heads, adapted for holdingmop-rags, dusting-cloths, and other articles; and it consists of thepeculiar construction and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafterfully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Heretofore a mop-head has been provided with a rigid T-shapedcross-head, a sliding head having arms which are guided by suitableguides on the rigid cross-head, and a spring-bar connected at its endsto the ends of the arms of the sliding head, said springbar beingcircularlycoiled upon itself at its middle and connected to the handleof the mop by means of a hinge-joint which receives the circular coiland is firmly secured to the handle, whereby the spring-bar can beraised or depressed to release the clampinghead or force the sameagainst the rigid head to clamp the article between the two heads of theimplement. A spring-bar having a circular coil at its middle, which isconnected to the handle by a metallic hinge-joint is objectionable,because it slips edgewise on the hinge-joint, owing to the fact that thediameter of the coil is much greater than the .width of the staple, andit does not lie close upon the handle when depressed, as the arms of thesliding cross-head are inclined above the center of the coil of thespring-bar, which thus provides a loose connection between thespring-bar and handle, which connection allows the spring-bar to elevateitself when it strikes objects while in use and thus release themop-rag. I aim to overcome these objections to the device constructed asdescribed, and to provide a clamping-head and springbar which areconstructed and arranged in such a peculiar manner as to secure agreater leverage from the spring-bar, a close connection between thetwist of the spring-bar and $erial No. 309,043. (No model.)

the handle, so as to overcome the endwise movement or play ofthe-spring-bar, and, finally, to improve the parts in minor details topromote efficiency and certainty of operation, insure ease ofmanipulation, and reduce the cost of manufacture, as well as to increasethe simplicity and durability of construction.

As an understanding of my invention can be had to better advantage by adetailed description thereof, I will now proceed to describe the same inconnection with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate twoembodiments of the device contemplated by me.

Figure 1 is a plan view showing the clamping-head adjusted in contactwith the rigid cross-head and the spring-bar depressed, and Fig. 2 is asimilar View with the spring-bar raised and the movable cross-headforced away from the rigid cross-head. Fig. 3 is an edge view with theparts in the position shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detail detachedperspective view of the spring clamping-bar. Figs. 5 and 6 are planviews of another form of my invention, showing the parts in positioncorresponding to Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 7 is a detail view of thespring-bar shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of therigid corrugated crosshead.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof the drawings.

1 designates the handles, 2 the rigid crosshead, 3 the slidingclamping-head having the extended arms 4, and 5 the spring-bar, whichare peculiarly constructed and arranged in the manner which I will nowproceed to describe. The rigid corrugated crosshead is made of wire ormetal rod, preferably,

of a single piece, although it is obvious that said cross-head may bemade of two, three, or more pieces of wire. In my preferred embodiment Itake a single piece of wire or a single metal rod of suitable diameter,and double the same upon itself, the two strands thus formed'beingtwisted together, as shown, to provide the corrugated surface, againstwhich the mop-rag or other article is 'forced by the clamping-head,whereby the mop-rag or article in use is securely held in place. Thewire or metal rod of which said crosshead is formed is looped to provideguideeyes 6 at the ends of the cross-head, through which are passed thearms 4L of the sliding cross-head, which thus serve to guide the slidingcross-head. The ends of the wire or metal rod of which the head is madeare bent at right angles to the head proper and twisted together to forma corrugated or screwthreaded shank 7, which is driven or screwed intothe end of the handle 1. 3y providing this corrugated or threaded shank7 and driving or screwing it into the handle the rigid corrugatedcross-head is very firmly secured to the handle and is not liable totwist or turn therein. The rigid corrugated cross-head can bemanufactured very cheaply and economically, as it is composed of asingle piece of wire or metal rod. The sliding clampinghead liesparallel with the rigid corrugated or toothed head, and the arms of saidclamping-head are parallel with each other, so that the head can movefreely through the eyes of rigid corrugated or toothed head. The rear orfree ends of the arms 4 are bent or curved inwardly toward the handleand provided with eyes 8, with which interlock loops or eyes 9 on theends of the spring-bar 5. This spring-bar 5 is also made of a singlepiece of wire or a metal rod,which is doubled or folded upon itself atits middle to form an elongated narrow eye or loop 10 at its middle andthe two yielding arms 11 on opposite sides of and at right angles to aline drawn through the middle of said elongated eye or loop.

In Fi 4 of the drawings I have shown two eyes or loops 10 and 12, whichare made by folding the middle of the wire or metallic rod upon itselfin first one direction and then the other, and the eye 10 isconsiderably smaller than the eye 12; but said eyes are in line witheach other. In Fig. 7, however, only a single elongated eye or loop 10is provided, having its shortest diameter or width at the apex 13 orextreme outer end thereof. This spring-bar is connected to or fulcrumedon the handle by means of a single transverse staple 14, which is firmlysecured to the handle and receives the smaller eye or loop 10 of the barshown in Fig. or the apex 13 of the bar shown in Fig. 7. The arms 12 ofthe spring-bar are curved or inclined downward from the elongated loopor eye 10 thereof, so as to lie oblique to the axis of said eye or loop10, and said oblique arms 12 are connected in the manner described tothe ends of the arms at of the clamping-head, whereby the arms 4 arearranged in line with or below the longitudinal axis of the handle andrigid corrugated cross head, thus insuring a straight direct pull on thesliding clampinghead to cause it to bind the mop-rag or other articlebetween itself and the rigid, corrugated, or toothed cross-head.

I attach especial importance to the springbar having the elongated eyeor loop at its middle fulcrumed on the handle by a staple, whichreceives the eye or loop at its narrower portion, the diameter of whichis nearly equal to the width of the staple, and having the arms onopposite sides of said loop inclined or bent below the center oftheloop,whereby an increased leverage is secured for the spring-bar, agreater play or movement of the clamping-head attained to adapt theimplement for holding large or small size rags or objects with equalfacility, endwise movement or play of the clamping-bar on the handle isentirely avoided, and the arms of the sliding clamping-head are arrangedbelow or in line with the axis of the handle. By this particularconstruction and arrangement of the spring-bar the latter is adapted tolie close upon the handle to prevent it from springing up when theimplement forcibly strikes an object, and thus avoid releasing the ragor object used, which is highly desirable, and the arms of saidspring-bar yield or give to adapt the mop-head for securely holdingarticles of different sizes, whereby the device is adapted for varioususes.

The operation of my invention is obvious. Then. it is desired to placean article in the implement, the spring-bar is turned on its fulcrumaway from the handle to force the sliding cross-head some distance fromthe rigid head, when the article can be placed between the two heads ofthe mop, after which the spring-bar is depressed upon the handle to fitthe latter very closely and draw the sliding clamping-head firmly uponthe article.

My improved mop-head is made entirely of wire or metallic rod, whichenables me to manufacture and sell the same at a reduced cost, and it isvery simple and durable in construction and exceedingly efiicient andreliable in operation.

I am also aware of the mop shown in Patent No. 368,486, in which a bailis fulcru med at its ends to the handle and provided with loops at anintermediate point of its length, which loops receive trunnions on theinner ends of arms of the clamping-head; but such is not my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mophead, the combination, with a handle, a rigid cross-head, anda sliding crosshead having the arms which are guided in the rigidcross-head, of a spring-bar having its ends bent or inclined downwardlyon opposite sides of the middle thereof, so as to terminate in a linedrawn, through the middle of the handle and connected to the arms of thesliding crosshead, said spring-bar having at its middle an elongated eyeor loop, the shortest diameter of which is at the extreme outer end ofsaid loop, and a staple fixed to the handle and fitted in the outernarrow end of said eye or loop of the spring-bar, whereby endwise playof the spring-bar on the handle is obviated and a direct pull or strainfrom said spring-bar on the sliding cross-head is secured, substantiallyas described.

2. A mop having a rigid corrugated crosshead formed of a piece of wirewhich is bent and twisted upon itself to form the corrugated head andthe screwed shank, said head having guide-eyes at its ends, and theshank being arranged at right angles to the head and inserted into ahandle, combined with a sliding clampin g-head, an d aspring-barconnected to the handle, and arms on the clamping-head, substantially asand for the purpose described.

3. A mop consisting of a handle, a rigid corrugated cross-head formed ofwire and having the guide-eyes at its ends and a central shank which isdriven or screwed into the handle, a sliding cross-head having arms thatpass through the eyes on the rigid corrugated cross-head, and aspring-bar consisting of a central elongated double loop or eye, and theoblique arms which are connected to the arms of the slidingclamping-head, the smaller loop or eye of the spring-bar being locatedremote from said bar and connected to the handle by a single staplewhich fits snugly in said small eye to prevent endwise play of thespring-bar, all arranged and combined for service substantiallyas andfor the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

JOHN M. HOLMES. Witnesses:

' CALHOUN S. EUCHES,

- THOS. W. MOARTHUR.

